Jake Behrens, MD, receives Young Physician Leadership Award

Madison (April 10, 2014) – The Wisconsin Medical Society Foundation has honored Jake Behrens, MD, with the Kenneth M. Viste, Jr., MD, Young Physician Leadership Award. An assistant clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Dr. Behrens received the award during the Wisconsin Medical Society’s Annual Meeting in Green Bay April 5-6. The Viste Award is presented annually to a young physician who demonstrates commitment to patients, the medical profession and the community.

Doctor Behrens’ area of expertise is attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. He recently served as chair of the American Psychiatric Association Assembly Committee of Members in Training and has helped integrate social media at national meetings. He has helped recruit young members to the Wisconsin Psychiatric Association Executive Council and has been part of a Wisconsin Medical Society Membership Summit Task Force.

“Doctor Behrens epitomizes the type of leader the Wisconsin Medical Society Foundation hopes to develop. He possesses the rare capability as a young physician of seeing the ‘big picture’ of health care, including the intersection of quality of, cost of, and access to health care,” said Claudia Reardon, MD, in her nomination letter. She is assistant professor and associate residency training director and chair of the Wisconsin Medical Society Foundation Scholarship Committee.

In addition to the engraved award presented to Dr. Behrens, the Foundation will contribute $750 to Savory Sunday, an organization Dr. Behrens and a fellow medical student helped run while in medical school. Savory Sunday serves fresh, hot meals every Sunday and seeks to address the pervasive issues of homelessness, while building friendships with those served. Doctor Behrens asked that the donation be made in honor of his Savory Sunday successor, Tom Berry, who passed away last August.

The Wisconsin Medical Society Foundation, chartered in 1955 as a charitable organization, works to advance the health of the people of Wisconsin by supporting medical and health education and statewide public health initiatives.